


I Will Wait

by Lalenapeike



Category: Lawless (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 20:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18373382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalenapeike/pseuds/Lalenapeike
Summary: Aftermath of the shootout. Maggie said she'd never do this again.  Maggie lied.





	I Will Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Short fic posted on Tumblr originally.

The stories of shootout at Maggodee Creek had grown in size and detail in the weeks following. Those who hadn’t been there had wanted to make it seem like they had. Those that knew best were not talking. Howard Bondurant had surprisingly not gone out and gotten drunk after getting his brothers settled in the hospital. He and Maggie had waited for news on Forrest. The Station was shut down for five days while they waited to see if Forrest would live. Jack was treated and sent home to rest the next day. Bertha Minnix had managed to sneak in to see him before he’d been discharged. Howard smirked at Jack’s attempt for nonchalance when Bertha had kissed him on the cheek before leaving. His younger brother’s face turning pink was all the evidence he needed to tease the younger man mercilessly. Maggie didn’t even crack a smile. She barely acknowledged there were other people in the hospital. She sat, three days and nights, eyes fixed on Forrest’s barely moving figure.

As it was, she was the only one in the room when Forrest stirred on the sixth night. They’d had to reopen the station in the mornings. All the doctors could tell them was that Forrest would live, but that he would wake when he was ready. Business couldn’t wait. Howard was being shockingly useful in getting things running and Maggie was able to sit at Forrest’s bedside in the evenings. She’d told him that she wouldn’t do this again; wouldn’t see him near dead or wrapped in bandages in the hospital clinging to life. She’d lied. Or at the least, she hadn’t been able to go through with it. When he and Howard had driven off to Jack’s rescue, she had been unable to stop him. He wouldn’t be Forrest if she’d been able to keep him with her, in place of helping keep his family safe. As the car roared off, she had been unable to stop the tears that started down her cheeks. Maggie moved to sit on his mattress, hugging his pillow to her chest. When the shots started she’d buried her face in it as she started to shake.

Forrest Bondurant had never been one to over think things. He knew what people said about him. He’d never paid it much attention. Far as he saw things, his world was pretty simple. When there was a threat to those he held close, he responded with greater force. So when Jack fell with a bullet in his side, Forrest was already charging forward. His hand groped in the pocket of his cardigan for his gun, pulling it out and raising it before his brother hit the ground.  He’d been dragging Jack toward the car when the first bullet hit, sending them both tumbling to the ground. With the pain still exploding in his shoulder, Forrest had risen slowly only to be taken down by more bullets that ripped through him. Forrest heard Howard’s voice shouting, clear above the chaos. He tried to move, to help, to do something, but crumpled on the ground he couldn’t move an inch. Maggie’s smile flashed before his eyes, her voice calling out his name, and his hand twitched as if to touch it, before everything had faded to blackness.

He’d been sure that had been it for him, convinced of it as he slipped from awareness. Immortality be damned, no one lived forever. He wasn’t so stupid he didn’t realize that. He believed the legend to an extent, but that didn’t stop the fear of dying when a man lay in a pool of his own blood. He awoke slowly, letting out a groan at the agony running through his body. Maggie was asleep, sitting in a chair next to the bed, her head resting on the edge of the mattress and her auburn hair was fanned out messily around her face. He reached a hand toward her face, reassuring himself she was real. The movement woke her and she stirred. “Forrest,” she breathed.

He blinked down at her. “What’re you doing?”

“Eatin’ ice cream.” The corner of her mouth quirked upwards in a grin that looked more painful than amused.

She shrugged and looked away, tears glimmering in her eyes. When she turned back to face him, he caught her gaze and held it unblinking.

“You said you wouldn’t do this again,” he rasped. “So why’re you still here?”

She looked down. “I lied. To myself, or to you. Both, I guess.” Maggie shook her head bitterly. “I couldn’t leave now. No matter how many times you nearly get yourself killed. I’m stuck Forrest.”

“Damned if I understand why,” he snorted, shaking his head. “Ain’t nothin’ special.”

“You really can’t see why I would…can you?” She looked sharply at him. “You’ve never treated me any less then the men. You treated me decently. No one I worked for before _ever, ever_ did that. You take care of us Forrest, all of us. You keep me safe and you look after Howard when he drinks too much and you help Jack be stronger…and I love you.” Her voice trailed off after the torrent of words that had gotten away from her, as she bit her lip and looked away. Her cheeks flushed a brick red.

He looked at her slack jawed and eyes wide. The air felt heavy in the room. The silence hung between them for what seemed to be ages, when Forrest mumbled something in response. She cocked her head in confusion and he repeated it in a slightly louder rumble. “Marry me.”

Maggie stared. “You…what?”

“I want you to stay. Doesn’t have to be nothin’ fancy. We don’t even have to tell anyone. Just stay Maggie.” His eyes were steady on hers.

Maggie nodded slowly, “Alright.” She broke into the first smile she’d given all week. Forrest’s mouth twitched upwards in response. He patted the side of the bed and she lay down beside him. He wrapped an arm around her, grunting quietly in pain. She sighed contentedly and curled into him carefully. The nurses came upon them that morning, side-by-side and fast asleep.


End file.
